The Sky is Falling! Or Something!

No, really, 'It’s a Disaster' [ok]

It’s not
often that movies subvert expectations. Take It’s a Disaster. Eight
friends meet for a couples’ brunch. Tracy (Julia Stiles) is on her third date
with Glen (David Cross). There’s also the hippie couple, Lexi and Buck (Rachel
Boston and Kevin M Brennan), the angry couple, Emma and Pete (Errin Hayes and
Blaise Miller) and a couple in stasis, Hedy and Shane (America Ferrera and Jeff
Grace). Sounds terrible.

Luckily for
the audience, a chemical weapon is detonated in the city where they live (Los
Angeles), and all the real personalities come out. Hedy, a chemist and teacher,
who knows what the weapons are capable of, gets wasted. Some encourage having a
three-way. Some go off the rails (Shane, irritatingly).

Cross and
Stiles become the de facto center, and they both have the best character
moments. When one couple shows up late for the brunch and sick from chemical
poisoning, Tracy refuses to unseal the doors and let them in, telling them that
if they really wanted to be alive, they’d have been on time. Cross’ character
has a final surprise for everyone that’s unexpected and hilarious.

It’s a
Disaster is far from
perfect—and it’s looks pretty blasé—but it’s the end of the world, so
whatever.